Methods and systems for receipt capturing process

ABSTRACT

A receipt capture tool residing on a customer mobile device may be initiated when a customer completes an in-store or online purchase. The receipt capture tool may prompt the customer to capture an image of a receipt detailing a purchase and an item (e.g., product or service) purchased. For instance, the photo of a physical receipt may be taken by the mobile device, or an electronic receipt or email detailing the purchasing transmitted from a physical merchant or online merchant server may be stored. Receipt information may be extracted and saved with other information pertinent to the item purchased, including warranty information. If the customer needs to return or repair the item purchased at a future date, the receipt and warranty information may be subsequently accessed via their mobile device. The receipt and warranty information may also be stored in a searchable database to facilitate easy retrieval by the customer.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 62/944,163,filed Dec. 5, 2019 and entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR RECEIPTCAPTURING PROCESS,” U.S. Application No. 62/972,228, filed Feb. 10, 2020and entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR RECEIPT CAPTURING PROCESS,” andU.S. Application No. 62/980,684, filed Feb. 24, 2020 and entitled“METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR RECEIPT CAPTURING PROCESS,” the disclosure ofeach of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein inits entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to receipt capturing process,and more particularly to methods and systems for capturing receiptinformation of a purchased item and retaining it in a secure database ofa financial institution for future access.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Consumers purchase hundreds of items every year, and consumers may berequired to retain receipts of the purchased items for future access.The purchase receipt may be required to return a purchased item or toreceive warranty benefits. It would be burdensome for the customers toretain receipts of purchases to document expenses or for warrantypurposes.

For example, a consumer buys a 60 inch television at a big box retailer,which comes with a one-year warranty. Within one year, the televisionstops working. The consumer cannot find the receipt of the television,and cannot recall when and/or where it was purchased. It would bedifficult for the consumer to know whether it is still covered under thewarranty. Even if the consumer remembers that it is within one year fromthe purchase date, the consumer may be typically required to produce thepurchase receipt with the retailer's name on the receipt to prove theoriginal purchase date and the purchase price to receive warrantybenefits.

Conventional techniques may be ineffective, inefficient, costly,awkward, and/or include additional drawbacks as well.

SUMMARY

The present embodiments relate to computer systems and methods that mayimprove efficiency of a receipt capturing process. In some aspects, apurchase of an item (or service) at a merchant location or online maytrigger or cause a mobile device to ask the purchaser if they would liketo capture receipt information, along with other information, such asnotes or warranty information, and store the receipt and otherinformation at a remotely accessible database, memory unit, and/orserver for future use or reference. The receipt information may becaptured via a photo of a physical receipt, or captured by saving anelectronic receipt or email received from a physical or online merchantcomputing device or server.

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for conducting a receiptcapturing process may be provided. The method may be implemented via oneor more local or remote processors, servers, sensors, and/ortransceivers. The method may include, via the one or more local orremote processors, servers, sensors, and/or transceivers: (1)determining whether a customer purchased an item (such as a product orservice) using an account that has a receipt capturing tool activated;(2) transmitting, in response to determining that the customer purchasedthe item (e.g., the product or service) using the account that has thereceipt capturing tool activated, a captured receipt alert to thecustomer inquiring whether to capture a receipt of the purchased item;(3) analyzing, in response to receiving an indication to capture thereceipt of the purchased item, the receipt to determine receiptinformation; and/or (4) storing the receipt information in a securedatabase. The receipt information may include information detailing apurchased item, a purchase date, a purchase amount, seller information,a retention period, warranty information, and a category of which thereceipt is stored in the secure database. The receipt information may bestored in the database or memory unit that may be remotely searchable,such as via a customer mobile device. The method may include additional,less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhereherein.

In another aspect, a computer system for capturing a receipt associatedwith a purchase of an item may be provided. The computer system mayinclude: (a) a network; (b) a computing device; and (c) a servercommunicatively coupled to the computing device via the network. Theserver may be configured to: (1) determine whether a customer purchasedan item (such as a product or service) using an account that has areceipt capturing tool activated; (2) transmit, in response to adetermination that the customer purchased the item (e.g., the product orservice) using the account that has the receipt capturing toolactivated, a captured receipt alert to the customer inquiring whether tocapture a receipt of the purchased item; (3) analyze, in response to areceipt of an indication to capture the receipt of the purchased item,the receipt to determine receipt information; and/or (4) store thereceipt information in a secure database. The receipt information mayinclude information detailing a purchased item, a purchase date, apurchase amount, seller information, a retention period, warrantyinformation, and a category of which the receipt is stored in the securedatabase. The receipt information may be stored in a database or memoryunit in communication with the server and that may be remotelysearchable, such as via a customer mobile device. The system may includeadditional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussedelsewhere herein.

While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of thepresently disclosed subject matter will become apparent to those skilledin the art from the following detailed description, which shows anddescribes illustrative embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of thisdisclosure, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparentand the invention itself will be better understood by reference to thefollowing description of embodiments of the invention taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer systemincluding a server and a computing device according to an embodiment asdisclosed herein;

FIGS. 2-4 are a flow diagram illustrating an exemplarycomputer-implemented method for capturing receipts;

FIGS. 5A-5D are exemplary screen shots that may be displayed on thecomputing device of FIG. 1 for capturing receipts; and

FIG. 6A-6D are exemplary screen shots that may be displayed on thecomputing device of FIG. 1 for retrieving receipts stored in a securedatabase of the server of FIG. 1.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views. Although the drawings representembodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings are not necessarilyto scale, and certain features may be exaggerated in order to betterillustrate and explain the present disclosure. The exemplification setout herein illustrates an embodiment of the disclosure, in one form, andsuch exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope ofthe disclosure in any manner.

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of thepresent disclosure, reference below is made to the embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, which are described below. The exemplaryembodiments disclosed herein are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed in the followingdetailed description. Rather, these exemplary embodiments were chosenand described so that others skilled in the art may utilize theirteachings. One of ordinary skill in the art will realize that theembodiments provided can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware,and/or a combination thereof. Programming code according to theembodiments can be implemented in any viable programming language or acombination of a high-level programming language and a lower levelprogramming language.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present embodiments may relate to, inter alia, computer systems andcomputer-implemented methods that facilitate a receipt capturingprocess. In some aspects, a purchase of an item (such as a product orservice) at a merchant location or online may trigger or cause a mobiledevice to ask the purchaser if they would like electronically capturereceipt information, along with other information, such as notes orwarranty information, and store the electronic receipt and otherinformation at a remotely accessible and searchable database, memoryunit, and/or server for future use or reference.

In some aspects, a receipt capture tool residing on a customer mobiledevice may be initiated when a customer completes an in-store or onlinepurchase. The receipt capture tool may prompt the customer to capture animage of a receipt detailing a purchase and an item (e.g., a product orservice) purchased. For instance, the photo of a physical receipt may betaken by the mobile device, or an electronic receipt or email detailingthe purchasing transmitted from a physical merchant or online merchantserver may be stored. Receipt information may be extracted, such as viaOCR (optical character recognition), and saved with other informationpertinent to the item purchased, including warranty information. If thecustomer needs to return or repair the item (in the case of a product)purchased at a future date, the receipt and warranty information may besubsequently accessed via their mobile device. The receipt and warrantyinformation may also be stored in a searchable database to facilitateeasy retrieval by the customer.

While the present embodiments may be used to capture and store hard copyor electronic receipts associated with items or products purchased(e.g., appliances, televisions, computers, mobile devices, electronicdevices, etc.), the present embodiments may also be used to capture andstore hard copy or electronic receipts associated with servicespurchased. For instance, a homeowner may pay a contractor or serviceperson to make a repair at their residence. In the way, the capturedreceipt may also function as a home maintenance log, and may also beused to track warrantees on work performed, as well as to track the datethe work was performed and by whom.

In one aspect, the services may relate to automobiles, such as oilchanges, maintenance, repairs, new parts, etc. The service-relatedreceipts and other documents captured by the present embodiments mayinclude auto maintenance receipts and bills, as well as auto warrantydocuments, and auto insurance receipts and any claim documents.

In another aspect, the services may relate to homes, such asmaintenance, repairs, new roofs and roof installation, new siding andsiding installation, yard work, new window installation, kitchen orbathroom upgrade work, new appliances and associated installation, etc.The service-related receipts and other documents captured by the presentembodiments may include home maintenance receipts and bills, as well ashome warranty documents, and homeowners insurance receipts and any claimdocuments.

Other types of service-related images and documents may also be capturedand stored with the present receipt capture embodiments.

Exemplary Computer System

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system 100 for capturing receiptinformation of a purchased item at or near the time of the purchase tobe stored in a secure database for further access. The receiptinformation may include, but is not limited to, a purchased item (e.g.,the item name and/or description), a purchase date, a purchase amount,seller/retailer information, a merchant chain, type of merchant (such asonline or brick-and-mortar), a retention period, warranty information,and a category of which the receipt is stored in the secure database. Todo so, the system 100 may include a server 110 (e.g., a financialinstitution's computer system) and a computing device 130 associatedwith a customer that is communicatively coupled to the server 110 via anetwork 150 (e.g., a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a personal area network (PAN), the Internet, etc.). The system100 may further include one or more servers 160, 170 that are associatedwith other financial institution's computer system such that thecomputing device 130 may communicate with different financialinstitutions.

In general, the computing device 130 may include any existing or futuredevices capable of detecting, collecting, storing, transmitting, and/ordisplaying data to the customer. For example, the computing device maybe, but not limited to, a computer, a notebook, a laptop, a mobiledevice, a smartphone, a tablet, wearable, smart glasses, or any othersuitable computing device that is capable of communicating with theserver 110. In operation, the computing device 130 is operated by thecustomer to capture receipts.

For example, the customer may use an application (e.g., a financialinstitution mobile app, a website application associated with afinancial institution) running on the customer's mobile device (e.g.,the computing device 130) to capture a receipt via a receipt capturingtool. The customer may be prompted by a server associated with afinancial institution (e.g., 110) at or near the time of the purchase ofan item to capture the receipt of the purchased item via direct orindirect wireless communication or data transmission from theapplication running on the customer's mobile device. Alternatively, thecustomer may choose to manually record a receipt of a purchased item viathe application running on the customer's mobile device that is incommunication with the server associated with a financial institution.Additionally or alternatively, the customer may choose to manuallyrecord an electronic receipt of an item that is purchased online or viathe internet from an online merchant, such as via Amazon.com orBestBuy.com.

It should be appreciated that the receipt capturing tool may be used tocapture receipts not only for purchased items, but also for purchasedservices (e.g., new installation, replacement, or improvements of astructure and/or an automobile). For example, if a home owner is payinga contractor or a service person to make a repair at home, the receiptcapturing tool may capture the receipt of the purchased service at ornear the time of the payment of the service. Alternatively, the homeowner may choose to manually record the receipt (e.g., a hardcopy orelectronic receipt) of the purchased service. As such, the applicationmay also function as a home maintenance log and may be used to track thedate of the service, the name of the company who performed the service,and/or any warranty information

The computing device 130 includes a processor 132 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU) and/or a graphics processing unit (GPU)), a memory134 (e.g., random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), and/orflash memory), an input/output (I/O) controller 136 (e.g., a networktransceiver), a memory unit 138, a display 140, a user interface 142(e.g., a display screen, a touchscreen, and/or a keyboard), aspeaker/microphone 144, and a camera 146, all of which may beinterconnected via one or more address/data bus. It should beappreciated that although only one processor 132 is shown, the computingdevice 130 may include multiple processors 132. Although the I/Ocontroller 136 is shown as a single block, it should be appreciated thatthe I/O controller 136 may include a number of different types of I/Ocomponents.

The computing device 130 may further include a database 148. As usedherein, the term “database” may refer to a single database or otherstructured data storage, or to a collection of two or more differentdatabases or structured data storage components. In the illustrativeembodiment, the database 148 is part of the computing device 130. Insome embodiments, the computing device 130 may access the database 148via a network such as network 150. The database 148 may store data thatis to be transmitted to the server 110. For example, the data mayinclude a photograph of a receipt or a scanned receipt, such as ahardcopy receipt from an in-store purchase. Additionally oralternatively, the data may include or be associated with a digitalimage of a receipt or an electronic receipt from an in-store purchase orfrom an online purchase.

The computing device 130 may further include a number of softwareapplications stored in a memory unit 138, which may be called a programmemory. The various software applications on the computing device 130may include specific programs, routines, or scripts for performingprocessing functions associated with the methods described herein.Additionally or alternatively, the various software applications on thecomputing device 130 may include general-purpose software applicationsfor data processing, database management, data analysis, networkcommunication, web server operation, or other functions described hereinor typically performed by a server. The various software applicationsmay be executed on the same computer processor or on different computerprocessors. Additionally, or alternatively, the software applicationsmay interact with various hardware modules that may be installed withinor connected to the computing device 130. Such modules may implementpart of or all of the various exemplary method functions discussedherein or other related embodiments.

The microphone and/or speaker 144 may be used to communicate with a userof the receipt capturing tool to facilitate capturing receipts. To doso, the microphone may be any electronic device that is capable ofcapturing sound and converting into an electrical audio output signal.In the illustrative embodiment, the microphone is configured to capturea voice of a user (e.g., a customer) using the receipt capturing tool.For example, as described further below, a customer may capture receipts(e.g., to enter or edit receipt information) using voice dictation viathe microphone of the computing device 130. The speaker may be anyelectronic device that is capable of generating sound in response to anelectrical audio input signal. In some embodiments, the receiptcapturing tool may play audio instructions via the speaker to guide thecustomer through the receipt capturing process.

The camera 146 may be any electronic device that is capable of capturingan image. In the illustrative embodiment, the camera 146 may be used tocapture an image of a hardcopy receipt from an in-store purchase. Itshould be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the camera 146 may beused to capture an image of an electronic receipt that is displayed on adisplay screen of another computing device.

Although only one computing device 130 is shown in FIG. 1, the server110 is capable of communicating with multiple computing devices similarto the computing device 130, wherein each computing device is associatedwith a customer and is configured to transmit data (e.g., any datainput, receipt information, a photograph of a receipt, a scannedreceipt, electronic receipt, online receipt, etc.) to the server 110.

Referring now to the server 110, the server 110 includes a processor 112(e.g., a microprocessor, a microcontroller), a memory 114, and aninput/output (I/O) controller 116 (e.g., a network transceiver). Theserver 110 may be a single server or a plurality of servers withdistributed processing. The server 110 may receive data from and/ortransmit data to the computing device 130 and may store data in a securedatabase 120.

In operation, the server 110 associated with a financial institution maycapture a receipt for a customer, who has one or more accounts (e.g.,debit account(s) and/or credit card(s)) with the financial institution,and retain the receipt at a secure database of the financial institutionfor record keeping. To do so, the server 110 may be configured todetermine if the server 110 requires permission from the customer toactivate a receipt capturing tool of at least one customer's accountassociated with the financial institution. In other words, the server110 may determine whether the customer has an account that has a receiptcapturing tool inactivated so that the server 110 may receive permissionfrom the customer to activate the receipt capturing tool feature. Asdescribed above, the receipt capturing tool allows the customer tocapture the receipt at or near the time of the purchase. Additionally oralternatively, the receipt capturing tool may allow the customer tocapture or copy an electronic receipt, such as from an online purchase.

If the server 110 determines that the customer has an account that has areceipt capturing tool inactivated, the server 110 may prompt thecustomer whether to activate a receipt capturing tool for that account.It should be appreciated that the server 110 may prompt the customer anoption to activate a receipt capturing tool for one or more accounts.The prompt may be provided to the customer via a text, an email, and/ora phone call. If the customer has a preferred method of communication(e.g., a text, an email, and/or a phone call) set up with the financialinstitution, the server 110 may communicate with the customer via thepreferred method of communication.

Subsequently, the server 110 may receive a response from the customerwhether to activate the receipt capturing tool. In some cases, thecustomer may select one or more accounts that the customer wants toactivate the receipt capturing tool. If the server 110 determines thatthe customer indicated that the customer wishes to activate the receiptcapturing tool for one or more accounts, the server 110 may prompt thecustomer to obtain a preferred communication method for receivingcaptured receipt alerts. The preferred communication method may includea text, an email, and/or a phone call. The server 110 may receive thepreferred communication method from the customer and may activate thereceipt capturing tool for the one or more accounts indicated by thecustomer. Subsequently, the server 110 may monitor for a purchase thatis made with one or more of customer's accounts that have the receiptcapturing tool activated.

If, however, the server 110 determines that the customer does not haveany account that has the receipt capturing tool inactivated or does notwish to activate the account that has the receipt capturing toolinactivated, the server 110 may further determine whether the customerhas at least one account associated with the financial institution thathas the receipt capturing tool activated. For example, the customer mayhave an account(s) that the customer already elected to opt in for thereceipt capturing tool when the customer opened the account(s). If theserver 110 determines that such an account exists, the server 110 maymonitor for a purchase that is made with that account(s) (i.e., acustomer's account(s) that has the receipt capturing tool activated).

If the server 110 determines that the customer purchased an item usingan account (e.g., a debit account or credit card) associated with thefinancial institution, and the server 110 may further determine whetherthe account used to purchase the item has the receipt capturing toolactivated. If the server 110 determines that the account used topurchase the item has the receipt capturing tool activated, the server110 may transmit a captured receipt alert to the customer via thepreferred communication method. The captured receipt alert may include apurchased item, a purchase date, a purchase amount, and seller/retailerinformation. Additionally, the captured receipt alerts may furtherinclude an inquiry to the customer whether to capture and store thereceipt of the purchased item. An exemplary screen shot of thecustomer's mobile device (e.g., the computing device 130) of such acaptured receipt alert is shown in FIG. 5A.

The server 110 may determine receipt information to pre-fill data fieldsto be stored in a secure database associated with the financialinstitution. An exemplary screen shot of the customer's mobile device(e.g., the computing device 130) of a receipt detail screen withpre-filled data fields is shown in FIG. 5C. The data fields may include,but not limited to, a purchased item (including the item name anddescription), a purchase date, a purchase amount, seller/retailerinformation, a retention period, warranty information, and a category ofwhich the receipt is stored in the secure database.

The retention period indicates how long the receipt will be stored inthe secure database. In the illustrative embodiment, the retentionperiod is set up as one year as a default but may be edited by thecustomer.

Additionally, all purchases may be categorized as “Purchases” categoryas a default. However, the customer may create or add one or morecategories to identify the item (e.g., electronics, clothing, shoes,cosmetics, etc.). The warranty information may be collected from thereceipt and/or may be retrieved from a third party server (e.g., amanufacture's web server, a retailer's web server). It should beappreciated that, in some embodiments, the server 110 may haveartificial intelligence capabilities that perform machine learning inanalyzing a receipt and determining receipt information to pre-fill datafields.

It should be appreciated that the data fields may be edited by thecustomer. In some embodiments, the data fields may be editable by thecustomer via a voice memo. For example, the customer may edit thepurchased item information by selecting the corresponding data field andusing the voice memo feature of the computing device 130 to specify thatthe purchased item is “Sony Flat Screen TV for Family Room.” It shouldbe appreciated that the computing device 130 and/or the server 110 mayperform a voice recognition to translate the voice memo into text in therespective data field.

Subsequently, the server 110 may store the receipt information asindicated in the data fields in the secure database associated with thefinancial institution. An exemplary screen shot of the customer's mobiledevice (e.g., the computing device 130) that confirms that the receipthas been stored is shown in FIG. 5D. As discussed below, the securedatabase may be a part of the server 110. Alternatively, in someembodiments, the server 110 may access the secure database via a networksuch as the network 150. This allows the customer to access the securedatabase to search, retrieve, view, print, text, or email any of thecustomer's receipts and/or electronic receipts stored in the securedatabase, which is described further in FIGS. 6A-6D.

If, however, the server 110 determines that the customer does not haveany account that has the receipt capturing tool activated or the accountused to purchase the item does not have the receipt capturing toolactivated, the server 110 may still capture and store a receipt via amanual receipt capturing process when requested by the customer. To doso, the server 110 may receive a request from the customer that thecustomer wishes to capture a receipt manually. For example, the customermay use an application (e.g., a financial institution mobile app, a website application associated with the financial institution) associatedwith the financial institution to manually record a receipt. Exemplaryscreen shots of the financial institution mobile app are shown in FIGS.5A-5D and 6A-6D. The customer may press a “Capture a Receipt” button 612in the application running on the customer's mobile device (e.g., thecomputing device 130) as shown in FIG. 6B to record a receipt.

Once the server 110 determines to manually capture the receipt, theserver 110 may prompt the customer to take a photograph of a receiptusing the customer's mobile device (e.g., the computing device 130) orupload a scanned receipt to the application on the customer's mobiledevice (e.g., the computing device 130). For example, when the “Capturea Receipt” button 612 is pressed, the application may ask the customerto take a photograph of the receipt, as shown in FIG. 5B. Alternatively,in some embodiments, the server 110 may receive a photographed receiptor a scanned receipt from the customer via a website associated with thefinancial institution. Additionally or alternatively, the server 110 mayprompt the customer whether to manually capture the receipt informationwithout providing a photographed or scanned receipt.

In some embodiments, when the “Capture a Receipt” button 612 is pressed,the application may ask the customer to take a photograph of a hard copyreceipt, as shown in FIG. 5B, such as when purchasing an item in abrick-and-mortar store. Additionally or alternatively, the, when the“Capture a Receipt” button 612 is pressed, the application may ask thecustomer to take a photograph of an electronic receipt shown on a mobiledevice display or other computing device display, such as whenpurchasing an item online and/or from an online merchant.

Additionally or alternatively, when the “Capture a Receipt” button 612is pressed, the application may retrieve or receive a digital image of ahard copy receipt or an electronic version of the hard copy receipt froma server associated with a brick-and-mortar store when purchasing anitem in the brick-and-mortar store. Additionally or alternatively, whenthe “Capture a Receipt” button 612 is pressed, the application mayretrieve or receive a digital image of an electronic receipt or anelectronic version of the receipt from a server associated with anonline merchant when purchasing an item online.

Subsequently, the server 110 may determine the receipt information tofill the data fields. As described above, the data fields may include,but not limited to, a purchased item (including the item name anddescription), a purchase date, a purchase amount, seller/retailerinformation, a retention period, warranty information, and a category ofwhich the receipt is stored in the secure database. To fill the datafields, the server 110 may perform an optical character recognition(OCR) or text recognition of the photograph of the receipt or thescanned receipt. Additionally or alternatively, the server 110 maycapture the data fields using a voice memo received from the customer.It should be appreciated that the computing device 130 and/or the server110 may perform a voice recognition to translate the voice memo intotext in the respective data field.

Subsequently, the server 110 may store the receipt information asindicated in the data fields in the secure database associated with thefinancial institution. As discussed above, such a secure database may bea part of the server 110. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the server110 may access the secure database via a network such as the network150. This allows the customer to access the secure database to search,retrieve, view, print, text, or email any of the customer's receiptsstored in the secure database, which is described further in FIGS.6A-6D.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the customer may be able to purchasea warranty for the purchased item through a 3^(rd) party, such as aninsurance company. For example, upon capturing of a receipt of apurchased item, the server 110 may query the customer whether thecustomer wishes to purchase a warranty or additional warranty for thepurchased item. It should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, thefinancial institution associated with the server 110 may be affiliatedwith a particular insurance company. In such embodiments, the server 110may provide different warranty options for the purchased item from theparticular insurance company. In other embodiments, the server 110 mayprovide options for various insurance companies for the customer toselect from. The warranty may be based upon the purchased price, thecondition of the item, where it was purchased from, and/or the currentwarranty information of the purchased item.

The processor 112 as disclosed herein may be any electronic device thatis capable of processing data, for example a central processing unit(CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a system on a chip (SoC), orany other suitable type of processor. It should be appreciated that thevarious operations of example methods described herein (i.e., performedby the server 110) may be performed by one or more processors 112. Thememory 114 may be a random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),a flash memory, or any other suitable type of memory that enablesstorage of data such as instruction codes that the processor 112 needsto access in order to implement any method as disclosed herein.

A database 120, which may be a single database or a collection of two ormore databases, is coupled to the server 110. In the illustrativeembodiment, the database 120 is part of the server 110. In someembodiments, the server 110 may access the database 120 via a networksuch as the network 150. The server 110 may also include varioussoftware applications stored in the memory 118 and executable by theprocessor 112. These software applications may include specificprograms, routines, or scripts for performing functions associated withthe methods described herein. Additionally, the software applicationsmay include general-purpose software applications for data processing,database management, data analysis, network communication, web serveroperation, or other functions described herein or typically performed bya server.

The network 150 is any suitable type of computer network thatfunctionally couples at least one computing device 130 with the server110. The network 150 may include a proprietary network, a secure publicinternet, a virtual private network and/or one or more other types ofnetworks, such as dedicated access lines, plain ordinary telephonelines, satellite links, cellular data networks, or combinations thereof.In embodiments where the network 150 comprises the Internet, datacommunications may take place over the network 150 via an Internetcommunication protocol.

It should be appreciated that the receipt capturing tool may be used torecord items, especially high-value items, that are protected by aninsurance policy (e.g., a personal article insurance, a rentersinsurance, or a homeowners insurance). For example, if a home of aninsured is broken into, the insured may need to provide a list ofspecific items that are stolen or damaged and how much those items wereworth to file a claim. Additionally, the insured may need to prove thatthe ownership of the stolen or damaged items. As such, an insured mayuse the receipt capturing tool to record a proof of ownership of itemsand store in the secure database. The items may be purchased, gifted,and/or inherited.

For the purchased item, the insured may choose to record the descriptionof the item, the purchased date, the purchased price, the purchasedlocation, the purchased merchant/store, the condition of the item, thecategory of the item, the warranty information, the insuranceinformation (e.g., insurer, policy number), and/or the ownershipinformation. It should be appreciated that, if the purchased item wasautomatically captured via the receipt capturing tool at or near thetime of purchase, the insured may add data fields to capture additionalinformation, such as the insurance information and/or the ownershipinformation, at the time of capturing the receipt of the purchased item.Alternatively, the insured may modify the existing entry to addadditional information by accessing the secure database.

For the gifted or inherited item, the insured may choose to record thedescription of the item, the gifted or inherited date, the value of thegifted or inherited item, the gifted or inherited location, thecondition of the gifted or inherited item at the time when the item wasgifted or inherited to the insured, the category of the item, thewarranty information, the insurance information (e.g., insurer, policynumber), and/or the ownership information. Since the gifted or inheriteditem cannot be automatically captured by the receipt capturing tool, theinsured may manually input these data fields associated with the giftedor inherited items to be stored in the secure database.

Once the items are recorded and stored in the secure database, theinsured may access the secure database to search for a specific itemand/or generate a summary report based upon data fields (e.g., date,amount, category, and/or insurance information). As such, if the insuredis required to provide a proof of ownership of certain items, theinsured may access the secure database to generate a summary report ofthe certain items with one or more data fields.

Exemplary Computer-Implemented Method

Referring now to FIGS. 2-5, a computer-implemented method 200 forcapturing a receipt for a customer, who has one or more accounts (e.g.,debit account(s) and/or credit card(s)) with a financial institution,and retaining the receipt at a secure database of the financialinstitution for record keeping is shown. In the illustrative embodiment,the method 200 is performed by a server of a financial institution(e.g., 110). In block 202, the server 110 associated with a financialinstitution determines if the customer has at least one accountassociated with the financial institution that has a receipt capturingtool inactivated. If the server 110 determines that such an account doesnot exist in block 204, the method 200 skips ahead to block 218 todetermine if the customer has at least one account that has the receiptcapturing tool previously activated, which is described further below.

If, however, the server 110 determines that the customer has an accountthat has a receipt capturing tool inactivated in block 204, the method200 advances to block 206. In block 206, the server 110 prompts thecustomer whether to activate a receipt capturing tool for that account.In some embodiments, the server 110 may prompt the customer an option toactivate a receipt capturing tool for one or more accounts. The promptmay be provided to the customer via a text, an email, and/or a phonecall. If the customer has a preferred method of communication (e.g., atext, an email, and/or a phone call) set up with the financialinstitution, the server 110 communicates with the customer via thepreferred method of communication.

Subsequently, in block 208, the server 110 receives a response from thecustomer whether to activate the receipt capturing tool. In someembodiments, the customer may select one or more accounts that thecustomer wants to activate the receipt capturing tool. If the server 110determines in block 210 that the customer indicated that the customerwould like to activate the receipt capturing tool for one or moreaccounts, the method 200 advances to block 212.

In block 212, the server 110 prompts the customer to obtain a preferredcommunication method for receiving captured receipt alerts. Thepreferred communication method may include a text, an email, and/or aphone call. The server 110 receives the preferred communication methodfrom the customer in block 214 and activates the receipt capturing toolfor the one or more accounts indicated by the customer in block 216.Subsequently, the method 200 proceeds to block 222 of FIG. 3.

It should be appreciated that, when the receipt capturing tool isactivated, the captured receipt alerts is transmitted to the customerwhen the server 110 determines that a customer's account (e.g., debitaccount or credit card) is used to purchase an item. The capturedreceipt alerts may include, for example, a purchased item, a purchasedate, a purchase amount, and seller/retailer information. Additionally,the captured receipt alerts further include an inquiry to the customerwhether to capture and store the receipt. An exemplary screen shot ofthe customer's mobile device (e.g., the computing device 130) of such acaptured receipt alert is shown in FIG. 5A. The receipt capturing toolallows the customer to capture the receipt at or near the time of thepurchase—whether the purchase is at a physical store or via an onlinemerchant.

Referring back to block 210, if the server 110 determines that thecustomer indicated that the customer does not wish to activate thereceipt capturing tool, the method 200 skips ahead to block 218. Inblock 218, the server 110 determines if there is at least one account ofthe customer that has the receipt capturing tool previously activated.For example, the customer may have an account that the customer alreadyelected to opt in for the receipt capturing tool when the customeropened the account. If the server 110 determines that such an accountexists, in block 220, the method 200 advances to block 222 shown in FIG.3. If, however, the server 110 determines that the customer does nothave an account that has the receipt capturing tool activated and thatthe customer does not wish to activate the receipt capturing tool forone or more of the customer's accounts, the method 200 skips ahead toblock 238 shown in FIG. 4 for an option for manual receipt capturingprocess, which is discussed further below.

In block 222 of FIG. 3, the server 110 determines whether the customerpurchased an item using an account (e.g., a debit account or creditcard) associated with the financial institution. If the server 110determines that a purchase has not been made in block 224, the method200 loops back to block 222 to continue wait for the customer to make apurchase using an account associated with the financial institution. If,however, the server 110 determines that the purchase has been made usingthe account associated with the financial institution in block 224, themethod 200 advances to block 226.

In block 226, the server 110 determines whether the account used topurchase the item has the receipt capturing tool activated. If theserver 110 determines that the account used to purchase the item doesnot have the receipt capturing tool activated in block 228, the method200 skips ahead to block 238 shown in FIG. 4 for an option for manualreceipt capturing process. If, however, the server 110 determines thatthe account used to purchase the item has the receipt capturing toolactivated, the method 200 advances to block 230.

In block 230, the server 110 transmits a captured receipt alert to thecustomer via the preferred communication method with the purchasedinformation, including, but not limited to, a purchased item, a purchasedate, a purchase amount, and seller information. The notificationfurther includes an inquiry to the customer whether to capture thereceipt of the purchased item. An exemplary screen shot of thecustomer's mobile device (e.g., the computing device 130) of such acaptured receipt alert is shown in FIG. 5A.

In response to the transmission of the captured receipt alert, if theserver 110 determines that the customer does not wish to automaticallycapture the receipt of the purchased item using the receipt capturingtool, the method 200 skips ahead to block 238 shown in FIG. 4 for anoption for manual receipt capturing process, which is discussed furtherbelow. If, however, the server 110 determines that the customer wishesto capture the receipt of the purchased item, the method 200 advances toblock 234.

In block 234, the server 110 analyzes the receipt to pre-fill datafields to be stored. An exemplary screen shot of the customer's mobiledevice (e.g., the computing device 130) of a receipt detail screen withpre-filled data fields is shown in FIG. 5C. The data fields may include,but not limited to, a purchased item (including the item name anddescription), a purchase date, a purchase amount, seller/retailerinformation, a retention period, warranty information, and a category ofwhich the receipt is stored in the secure database. The retention periodindicates how long the receipt will be stored in the secure database. Inthe illustrative embodiment, the retention period is set up as one yearas a default but may be edited by the customer. Additionally, allpurchases may be categorized as “Purchases” category as a default.However, the customer may create or add one or more one or morecategories to identify the item (e.g., electronics, clothing, shoes,cosmetics, etc.). The warranty information may be collected from thereceipt and/or may be retrieved from a third party server (e.g., amanufacture's web server, a retailer's web server).

It should be appreciated that, in the illustrative embodiment, the datafields may be edited by the customer. In some embodiments, the datafields may be editable by the customer via a voice memo feature. Forexample, the customer may edit the purchased item information byselecting the corresponding data field and using the voice memo featureof the computing device 130 to specify that the purchased item is “SonyFlat Screen TV for Family Room.” To do so, the computing device 130and/or the server 110 may perform a voice recognition to translate thevoice memo into text in the respective data field. It should also beappreciated that some of the receipt information may be determined priorto block 230 to be included in the capture receipt alert.

Subsequently, in block 236, the server 110 stores the receiptinformation as indicated (or edited) in the data fields in the securedatabase associated with the financial institution. An exemplary screenshot of the customer's mobile device (e.g., the computing device 130)that confirms that the receipt has been stored in a secure database(e.g., Secure Vault) is shown in FIG. 5D. As discussed above, such asecure database may be a part of the server 110. Alternatively, in someembodiments, the server 110 may access the secure database via a networksuch as the network 150. This allows the customer to access the securedatabase to search, retrieve, view, print, text, or email any of thecustomer's receipts stored in the secure database, which is describedfurther in FIGS. 6A-6D.

Referring now to block 238 of FIG. 4, the server 110 may determinewhether to manually capture a receipt. The server 110 may receive arequest from the customer that the customer wishes to capture a receiptmanually. For example, the customer may use an application (e.g., afinancial institution mobile app, a website application associated withthe financial institution) associated with the financial institution tomanually record a receipt. Exemplary screen shots of the financialinstitution mobile app are shown in FIGS. 5A-5D and 6A-6D. The customermay press a “Capture a Receipt” button 612 in the application running onthe customer's mobile device (e.g., the computing device 130) as shownin FIG. 6B to capture a receipt.

Once the server 110 determines to manually capture the receipt, themethod 200 proceeds to block 240 to prompt the customer to provide thereceipt. The server 110 may prompt the customer to take a photograph ofa receipt or upload a scanned receipt, as indicated in blocks 242 and242. For example, when the “Capture a Receipt” button 612 is pressed,the application may ask the customer to take a photograph of thereceipt, as shown in FIG. 5B. In some embodiments, the server 110 mayreceive a photographed receipt or a scanned receipt from the customervia a website associated with the financial institution. As describedfurther below, the customer may provide a photographed receipt, ascanned receipt of a hard copy receipt, an electronic receipt, anelectronic receipt email, a screenshot or photograph of the electronicreceipt, or a screenshot or photograph of the electronic receipt emailto manually capture the receipt of a purchased item. Additionally oralternatively, the server 110 may prompt the customer whether tomanually capture the receipt information without providing aphotographed or scanned receipt, as indicated in block 246.

As noted herein, in some embodiments, the item may be purchased at aphysical store, the customer may receive a hard copy receipt, and take aphotograph of the hard copy receipt via their mobile device.Additionally or alternatively, a server or other computing device at thephysical store may transmit or send a photo of the receipt or anelectronic receipt to the customer's mobile device.

Other embodiments may relate to online purchases. As such, in thoseembodiments, the item may be purchased online from an online merchant,and the customer may receive an electronic receipt or an email detailingthe purchase from the online merchant's server or computing device. Thecustomer may then save the electronic receipt or email or a screenshotof the electronic receipt or email to their mobile device and/ortransmit the electronic receipt or email or a screenshot of theelectronic receipt or email to their mobile device to a remote serverfor storage and analysis. Additionally or alternatively, the customermay complete an online purchase via a first computing device, andreceive an email or electronic receipt via the first computing device,and take a photograph or screenshot of the email or electronic receiptvia their mobile device (or other second computing device) for storageand analysis.

Once the receipt of the purchased item is received, the server 110 fillsthe data fields as indicated in block 248. As described above, the datafields may include, but not limited to, a purchased item (including theitem name and description), a purchase date, a purchase amount,seller/retailer information, a retention period, warranty information, acategory of which the receipt is stored in the secure database, and apayment type (e.g., credit card, debit account, cash, check, etc.). Theretention period indicates how long the receipt will be stored in thesecure database. In the illustrative embodiment, the retention period isset up as one year as a default but may be editable by the customer.Additionally, all purchases may be categorized as “Purchases” categoryas a default. However, the customer may create or add one or more one ormore categories to identify the item (e.g., electronics, clothing,shoes, cosmetics, etc.).

To fill the data fields, the server 110 may analyze a photographedreceipt, electronic receipt, receipt email, or a scanned receiptreceived from the customer. For example, the server 110 may perform anoptical character recognition (OCR) or text recognition of thephotograph of the hard copy receipt, the screenshot of the electronicreceipt or receipt email, or the scanned receipt, as indicated in block250. Additionally or alternatively, the server 110 may capture and/oredit the data fields using a voice memo received from the customer, asindicated in block 252. It should be appreciated that the computingdevice 130 and/or the server 110 may perform a voice recognition totranslate the voice memo into text in the respective data field.

Subsequently, in block 254, the server 110 stores the receiptinformation as indicated in the data fields in the secure databaseassociated with the financial institution. As discussed above, such asecure database may be a part of the server 110. Alternatively, in someembodiments, the server 110 may access the secure database via a networksuch as the network 150. This allows the customer to access the securedatabase to search, retrieve, view, print, text, or email any of thecustomer's receipts stored in the secure database, which is describedfurther in FIGS. 6A-6D.

It should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, blocks 202-220 maybe optional steps. It should also be understood that although the method200 is described as being performed by the server 110, in some examples,such method may be performed by an application running on the computingdevice 130 that is in communication with the server 110.

Exemplary Process

Referring now to FIGS. 5A-5D, exemplary screen shots of a financialinstitution mobile app running on of the customer's mobile device (e.g.,the computing device 130) for receipt capturing process are shown.

When a customer purchases an item with a customer's account (e.g., debitcard or credit card) that has the receipt capturing tool activated, thecustomer receives a captured receipt alert, as illustrated in FIG. 5A.The captured receipt alert may include, for example, a purchased item, apurchase date, a purchase amount, and seller/retailer information.Additionally, the captured receipt alert further includes an inquiry tothe customer whether to capture and store the receipt. The receiptcapturing tool allows the customer to capture the receipt at or near thetime of the purchase.

As noted above, the receipt to be captured may be a hard copy orphysical receipt, such as from an in-store purchase. The receipt to becaptured may alternatively be an electronic receipt or email receivedfrom a physical store server or computing device (for an in-storepurchase), or an electronic receipt or email received from an onlinemerchant (for an online purchase). The physical receipt, electronicreceipt, and/or email detailing a purchasing may be captured and/orinput into the receipt capturing tool and the receipt capturing tool mayautomatically extract pertinent data as discussed herein, such as item,price, date, location, merchant, warranty information, and other datadetailed herein.

Returning to the Figures, a receipt detail screen with data fields maybe pre-filled upon automatically receiving the purchase information viathe receipt capturing tool. As shown in FIG. 5C, the data fields mayinclude a purchased item (including the item name and description), apurchase date, a purchase amount, and seller/retailer information.Although it is not shown in FIG. 5C, the data fields may further includea retention period, warranty information, and a category of which thereceipt is stored in the secure database. The retention period indicateshow long the receipt will be stored in the secure database. In theillustrative embodiment, the retention period is set up as one year as adefault but may be editable by the customer.

Additionally, all purchases may be categorized as “Purchases” categoryas a default. However, the customer may create or add one or more one ormore categories to identify the item (e.g., electronics, clothing,shoes, cosmetics, etc.). The warranty information may be collected fromthe receipt and/or may be retrieved from a third party server (e.g., amanufacture's web server, a retailer's web server).

Those data fields may be editable by the customer. For example, the datafields may be edited by the customer via a user interface (e.g., a touchscreen, a keyboard, and/or a microphone). As illustrated in FIG. 5C, thecustomer may edit the purchased item information by selecting thecorresponding data field to specify that the purchased item is “SonyFlat Screen TV for Family Room.”

Subsequently, the receipt information as indicated (or edited) in thedata fields may be stored in the secure database associated with thefinancial institution (also referred to as a secure vault in thisapplication). The confirmation may be presented to the customer as shownin FIG. 5D. As discussed above, such a secure database may be a part ofthe server (e.g., 110) associated with the financial institution.Alternatively, in some embodiments, the server (e.g., 110) may accessthe secure database via a network such as the network 150. This allowsthe customer to access the secure database to search, retrieve, view,print, text, or email any of the customer's receipts stored in thesecure database, which is described further in FIGS. 6A-6D. In someembodiments, the customer's receipt may be searchable via the datafields and/or categories.

Alternatively, the customer may choose to manually record receiptinformation of a purchased item via the financial institution mobile apprunning on of the customer's mobile device. For example, the customermay choose to manually record the receipt information in response toreceiving, via the receipt capturing tool, a prompt from a serverassociated with a financial institution whether to capture a receipt ofan item purchased with the customer's account (e.g., debit account orcredit card). Alternatively, if the customer purchases an item usingcash, the receipt capturing tool is not able to automatically detectsuch a purchase. In such cases, the customer may also choose to manuallyrecord receipt information of a purchased item. As illustrated in FIG.5B, the financial institution mobile app may prompt the customer to takea photograph of the hard copy receipt or alternatively save anelectronic copy of the receipt (or an email detailing the purchase) thatis transmitted to a computing device of the customer from the merchantor online merchant.

A receipt detail screen with data fields may be pre-filled uponreceiving the receipt from the customer. For example, an opticalcharacter recognition (OCR) or text recognition of the photograph of thereceipt, the scanned receipt, an electronic receipt, or an emaildetailing the purchase may be performed to pre-fill the receiptinformation. As shown in FIG. 5C, the data fields may include apurchased item (including the item name and description), a purchasedate, a purchase amount, and seller/retailer information. Although it isnot shown in FIG. 5C, the data fields may further include a retentionperiod, warranty information, and a category of which the receipt isstored in the secure database. As described above, those data fields maybe editable by the customer. For example, the data fields may be editedby the customer via a user interface (e.g., a touch screen and/or akeyboard) and/or a voice recognition. As illustrated in FIG. 5C, thecustomer may edit the purchased item information by selecting thecorresponding data field to specify that the purchased item is “SonyFlat Screen TV for Family Room.”

Subsequently, the receipt information as indicated (or edited) in thedata fields may be stored in the secure database associated with thefinancial institution (also referred to as a secure vault in thisapplication). The confirmation may be presented to the customer as shownin FIG. 5D. As discussed above, such a secure database may be a part ofthe server (e.g., 110) associated with the financial institution.Alternatively, in some embodiments, the server (e.g., 110) may accessthe secure database via a network such as the network 150. This allowsthe customer to access the secure database to search, retrieve, view,print, text, or email any of the customer's receipts stored in thesecure database, which is described further in FIGS. 6A-6D.

Exemplary Process

Referring now to FIGS. 6A-6D, exemplary screen shots of a financialinstitution mobile app running on of the customer's mobile device (e.g.,the computing device 130) for retrieving process of a receipt are shown.

To access the secure database, the customer may tap a “Receipts” button602 shown in FIG. 6A. Under the Receipt Vault menu, the customer has anoption to manually capture and/or store a receipt by selecting a“Capture a Receipt” button 612. As discussed above, the receipt may be ahard copy receipt, an electronic receipt, or email detailing a purchase.In some cases, the customer may not be able to produce a receipt. Forexample, the customer may have lost the receipt of a purchased item oran item was gifted or inherited to the customer. In such cases, thecustomer may utilize the “Capture a Receipt” button 612 to manually fillthe data fields to capture the information of such items. The datafields for the purchased item may include the description of the item,the purchased date, the purchased price, the purchased location, thepurchased merchant/store, the condition of the item, the category of theitem, the warranty information, the insurance information (e.g.,insurer, policy number), and/or the ownership information. The datafields for the gifted or inherited item may include the description ofthe item, the gifted or inherited date, the value of the gifted orinherited item, the gifted or inherited location, the condition of thegifted or inherited item at the time when the item was gifted orinherited to the insured, the category of the item, the warrantyinformation, the insurance information (e.g., insurer, policy number),and/or the ownership information.

Additionally, under the Receipt Value menu, the customer also has anoption to access the secure database (i.e., Receipt Vault in thisexample) by selecting “Retrieve a Receipt” button 614.

It should be appreciated that, although it is not shown in FIG. 6A-6D,receipts stored in the secure database (e.g., Receipt Vault in thisexample) may be presented to the customer in a chronological order whenthe “Retrieve a Receipt” button 614 is selected.

When the “Retrieve a Receipt” button 614 is selected, the customer hasan option to search for a particular item y a description, a seller, apurchase amount, and/or a purchase date, as illustrated in FIG. 6C. Forexample, if the customer search with a term “TV” in the descriptionfield, the matching receipt is presented to the customer, as illustratedin FIG. 6D. The customer then has an option to copy the receipt, printthe receipt, or share the receipt via a text, an email, or any othersuitable means.

Exemplary Embodiments

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for conducting a receiptcapturing process may be provided. The method may be implemented via oneor more local or remote processors, servers, sensors, and/ortransceivers, The method may include, via the one or more local orremote processors, servers, sensors, and/or transceivers: (1)determining whether a customer purchased an item (e.g., a product orservice) using an account that has a receipt capturing tool activated;(2) transmitting, in response to determining that the customer purchasedthe item using the account that has the receipt capturing toolactivated, a captured receipt alert to the customer inquiring whether tocapture a receipt of the purchased item; (3) analyzing, in response toreceiving an indication to capture the receipt of the purchased item,the receipt to determine receipt information; and/or (4) storing thereceipt information in a secure database. The receipt information mayinclude information detailing a purchased item, a purchase date, apurchase amount, seller information, a retention period, warrantyinformation, and a category of which the receipt is stored in the securedatabase. The receipt information may be stored in the database ormemory unit that may be remotely searchable, such as via a customermobile device. The method may include additional, less, or alternatefunctionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the computer-implemented method may include (i)determining whether to activate a receipt capturing tool of a customer'saccount; (ii) receiving, in response to determining to activate thereceipt capturing tool, a preferred communication method for receivingcaptured receipt alerts; and/or (iii) activating the receipt capturingtool of the account.

The captured receipt alert may include at least one of a purchased item,a purchase date, a purchase amount, seller information, and an inquirywhether to capture and store the receipt. The receipt information mayinclude at least one of a purchased item, a purchase date, a purchaseamount, seller information, a retention period, warranty information,and a category of which the receipt is stored in the secure database.

The computer-implemented method may include, via the one or more localor remote processors, servers, sensors, and/or transceivers: linking thereceipt information in the stored database to a warranty covering theitem or to an electronic version of the warranty covering the item tofacilitate remote retrieval of the receipt information and theelectronic version of the warranty at a later data, such as remoteretrieval via a customer mobile device. The receipt information may beremotely searchable via a customer mobile device, such as searchable bycategory or data field, as discussed above.

For instance, the receipt information may include at least one of apurchased item, a purchase date, a purchase amount, seller information,a retention period, warranty information, and a category of which thereceipt is stored in the secure database, and the receipt informationmay be remotely searchable, such as via a customer mobile or othercomputing device, by type of purchased item, purchase date, purchasedata range, purchase amount, purchase amount range, seller information,store, store chain, merchant chain, merchant, customer notes, and/orpayment type (cash, credit, debit account, check, etc.).

In some embodiments, the receipt may be captured by the receipt capturetool by the customer taking a photo of a hard copy or physical receiptvia their mobile device. Additionally or alternatively, the receipt maybe captured by the receipt capture tool by saving an electronic receiptsent or transmitted from a merchant or online merchant server orcomputing device to the customer mobile device or other computingdevice. Additionally or alternatively, the receipt may be captured bythe receipt capture tool by saving an email detailing the purchasingsent or transmitted from a merchant or online merchant server orcomputing device to the customer mobile device or other computingdevice.

In another aspect, a computer system for capturing a receipt associatedwith a purchase of an item may be provided. The computer system mayinclude: (a) a network; (b) a computing device; and (c) a servercommunicatively coupled to the computing device via the network. Theserver may be configured to: (1) determine whether a customer purchasedan item (e.g., a product or service) using an account that has a receiptcapturing tool activated; (2) transmit, in response to a determinationthat the customer purchased the item using the account that has thereceipt capturing tool activated, a captured receipt alert to thecustomer inquiring whether to capture a receipt of the purchased item;(3) analyze, in response to a receipt of an indication to capture thereceipt of the purchased item, the receipt to determine receiptinformation; and/or (4) store the receipt information in a securedatabase. The receipt information may include information detailing apurchased item, a purchase date, a purchase amount, seller information,a retention period, warranty information, and a category of which thereceipt is stored in the secure database. The receipt information may bestored in a database or memory unit in communication with the server andthat may be remotely searchable, such as via a customer mobile device.The system may include additional, less, or alternate functionality,including that discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the computer system and/or server may be furtherconfigured to: determine whether to activate a receipt capturing tool ofa customer's account; receive, in response to a determination toactivate the receipt capturing tool, a preferred communication methodfor receiving captured receipt alerts; and/or activate the receiptcapturing tool of the account.

The captured receipt alert may include at least one of a purchased item,a purchase date, a purchase amount, seller information, and an inquirywhether to capture and store the receipt. The receipt information mayinclude at least one of a purchased item, a purchase date, a purchaseamount, seller information, a retention period, warranty information,and a category of which the receipt is stored in the secure database.

In another aspect, a computer-implemented method for conducting areceipt capturing process may be implemented via one or more local orremote processors, servers, sensors, and/or transceivers. The method mayinclude, via the one or more local or remote processors, servers,sensors, and/or transceivers: (i) determining whether a customerpurchased a service using a customer's account that has a receiptcapturing tool activated; (ii) transmitting, in response to determiningthat the customer purchased the service using the account that has thereceipt capturing tool activated, a captured receipt alert to thecustomer inquiring whether to capture a receipt of the purchasedservice; (iii) automatically capturing, in response to receiving anindication to capture the receipt of the purchased service, the receipt;(iv) analyzing the receipt to determine receipt information; and/or (v)storing the receipt information in a secure database. The method mayinclude additional, less, or alternate actions, including thosediscussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the receipt information may include at least one of apurchased service, a purchase date, a purchase amount, sellerinformation, a retention period, warranty information, and a category ofwhich the receipt is stored in the secure database. The method may alsoinclude linking the receipt information in the stored database to awarranty covering the purchased service or to an electronic version ofthe warranty covering the purchased service to facilitate remoteretrieval of the receipt information and the electronic version of thewarranty at a later data, such as remote retrieval via a customer mobiledevice. The method may also include providing an option to purchase awarranty for the purchased service based upon the receipt information.

In another aspect, a computer system for capturing a receipt associatedwith a purchase of a service may be provided. The system may include anetwork; a computing device; and a server communicatively coupled to thecomputing device via the network, the server may be configured to: (i)determine whether a customer purchased a service using a customer'saccount that has a receipt capturing tool activated; (ii) transmit, inresponse to a determination that the customer purchased the serviceusing the account that has the receipt capturing tool activated, acaptured receipt alert to the customer inquiring whether to capture areceipt of the purchased service; (iii) automatically capture, inresponse to a receipt of an indication to capture the receipt of thepurchased service, the receipt; (iv) analyze the receipt to determinereceipt information; and/or (v) store the receipt information in asecure database. The computer system may include additional, less, oralternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary Features

The present embodiments may reduce worry and increase confidence amongcustomers by providing a simple way to capture, retain, and accessreceipts (and potentially other important documents) at or near thepoint of purchase.

Here is how it may work: A customer purchases an item. If purchasedusing a debit account or credit card, the customer may immediatelyreceive a prompt on their smart phone (text or email, based on personalpreference) asking “Would you like to capture and store the receipt foryour Seller Name purchase? If the customer answers, “Yes”, the mobileapp launches and the customer is prompted to snap a photo and validate afew important data elements (most of which will be pre-filled):

-   -   Item Purchased: (Customer inputs item name/description here)    -   Purchase Date: Pre-filled from transaction record (editable)    -   Purchase Amount: Pre-filled from transaction record (but        editable)    -   Seller: Pre-filled from transaction record (editable)    -   Retention period: 1 yr (default), + and − buttons will allow        customer to select up to 7 years    -   Vault: Purchases (Default), Other Categories can be added

After a receipt (or other document) is captured, the customer will haveaccess to retrieve, view, print, text or email the receipt at any time.As long as the document is still in the Secure Vault (retention periodnot expired), the document would be retrievable via a chronologicallisting with search capability (search on date, description, seller,amount, etc.).

This will be convenient be for that customer whose 60″ television stopsworking. They can retrieve the receipt instantly and see that thewarranty is still in effect, and provide the necessary proof of purchaseto the seller.

Customers would also be able to capture receipts later by tapping anicon adjacent to the purchase on their transaction ledger. For purchasesmade by check or cash, the mobile app would allow a customer to captureand store a receipt as a function of the app built into the menu.

Other capabilities of the present embodiments include OCR/Textrecognition; voice memo; photo of items; and real-time andafter-the-fact capture. For OCR/Text Recognition functionality thesystem may interpret text on the receipt to prepopulate data fields. Forexample, a ‘rubber band’ capability would allow the user to select aportion of text on the receipt. If possible the image would be convertedto text to populate the field.

For Voice Memo functionality, an option may be added to allow voicecapture of a data field. For example, a voice memo icon would beprovided adjacent to the input field. Selecting the icon would promptthe user to speak a brief description of the item and activate themicrophone. The recording may be stored and voice recognition mayattempt to convert the recorded words to text.

For Photo of Item functionality, in lieu of a text description, a photoof the item could be stored. For example, a photo icon would be providedadjacent to the input field. Selecting the icon would prompt the user totake a photo of the item with the logo and or model number/serial numbervisible. The photo may be stored and OCR may attempt to convert modeland serial number to text.

For Real-time and After-the-fact Capture functionality, the receipt maybe captured at point of sale or anytime thereafter.

Other uses of the present embodiments may include capture warrantyinformation functionality, budgeting/record keeping functionality, andcatalog valuable items for insurance/home inventory functionality. Thecapture warranty information functionality may include or be associatedwith capturing an image of a warranty card or document; inputting thewarranty term, such as in days, months, or years; displaying anestimated warranty expiration data (calculated from days, months oryears from the provided purchase date); and/or inputting limitations(original purchaser only, transferable, etc.).

The Budgeting/Record Keeping functionality may include capturing allphysical and/or electronic receipts; offering receipt categorization(default and user-created); and/or Summary Reporting based upon datafields (Date, Amount, Category, etc.).

The Catalog Valuable Items for Insurance/Home Inventory functionalitymay include and/or be related to capturing photos and descriptions ofhigh-value items covered under insurance policy; inputting owner(default to logged-in user); inputting purchase date and price;inputting condition of item; offering item categorization (default anduser-created); and/or Summary Reporting based upon data fields (Date,Amount, Category, etc.).

Also, Catalog When an Item is Replaced or Repaired or Improvements weremade and there is a warranty period functionality may be provided withthe present embodiments. As repair or replacement examples, HVAC andother equipment may be installed having warranties; a new roof may beinstalled with a 15-, 20- or 25-year warranty; and/or automobile tireswith a mileage warranty may be purchased.

Additional Considerations

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, itshould be understood that the invention is not so limited andmodifications may be made without departing from the invention. Thescope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, and alldevices that come within the meaning of the claims, either literally orby equivalence, are intended to be embraced therein.

It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description beregarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understoodthat it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that areintended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofnumerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legalscope of the description is defined by the words of the claims set forthat the end of this patent and equivalents. The detailed description isto be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment since describing every possible embodiment would beimpractical. Numerous alternative embodiments may be implemented, usingeither current technology or technology developed after the filing dateof this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims.

It should also be understood that, unless a term is expressly defined inthis patent using the sentence “As used herein, the term ‘______’ ishereby defined to mean . . . ” or a similar sentence, there is no intentto limit the meaning of that term, either expressly or by implication,beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not beinterpreted to be limited in scope based upon any statement made in anysection of this patent (other than the language of the claims). To theextent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this disclosureis referred to in this disclosure in a manner consistent with a singlemeaning, that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse thereader, and it is not intended that such claim term be limited, byimplication or otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally, unless aclaim element is defined by reciting the word “means” and a functionwithout the recital of any structure, it is not intended that the scopeof any claim element be interpreted based upon the application of 35U.S.C. § 112(f).

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component.

Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single componentmay be implemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of routines, subroutines, applications, orinstructions. These may constitute either software (code embodied on anon-transitory, tangible machine-readable medium) or hardware. Inhardware, the routines, etc., are tangible units capable of performingcertain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certainmanner. In example embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardwaremodules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group ofprocessors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware module that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that istemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware” should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardwareis temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), the hardware need not beconfigured or instantiated at any one instance in time. Software mayaccordingly configure a processor, for example, to constitute aparticular hardware module at one instance of time and to constitute adifferent hardware module at a different instance of time. Hardwareelements can provide information to, and receive information from, otherhardware elements. Accordingly, the described hardware may be regardedas being communicatively coupled.

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules. Similarly, the methods or routinesdescribed herein may be at least partially processor-implemented. Theperformance of certain of the operations may be distributed among theone or more processors, not only residing within a single machine, butdeployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments, theprocessor or processors may be located in a single location (e.g.,within a home environment, an office environment or as a server farm),while in other embodiments the processors may be distributed across anumber of locations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation. As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment may beincluded in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “inone embodiment” in various places in the specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Some embodiments maybe described using the expression “coupled” and “connected” along withtheir derivatives. For example, some embodiments may be described usingthe term “coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in directphysical or electrical contact. The term “coupled,” however, may alsomean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with eachother, but yet still cooperate or interact with each other. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. In addition,use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and componentsof the embodiments herein. This is done merely for convenience and togive a general sense of the description. In this description, and theclaims that follow, the singular also includes the plural unless it isobvious that it is meant otherwise. This detailed description is to beconstrued as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment, as describing every possible embodiment would beimpractical, if not impossible. One could implement numerous alternateembodiments, using either current technology or technology developedafter the filing date of this application.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciatestill additional alternative structural and functional designs forsystem and a method for assigning mobile device data to a vehiclethrough the disclosed principles herein. Thus, while particularembodiments and applications have been illustrated and described, it isto be understood that the disclosed embodiments are not limited to theprecise construction and components disclosed herein. Variousmodifications, changes and variations, which will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the method and apparatus disclosed herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope defined in the appended claims.

The particular features, structures, or characteristics of any specificembodiment may be combined in any suitable manner and in any suitablecombination with one or more other embodiments, including the use ofselected features without corresponding use of other features. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particularapplication, situation or material to the essential scope and spirit ofthe present invention. It is to be understood that other variations andmodifications of the embodiments of the present invention described andillustrated herein are possible in light of the teachings herein and areto be considered part of the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for conducting areceipt capturing process, the method being implemented via one or morelocal or remote processors, servers, sensors, and/or transceivers, themethod comprising, via the one or more local or remote processors,servers, sensors, and/or transceivers: determining whether a customerpurchased an item using a customer's account that has a receiptcapturing tool activated; transmitting, in response to determining thatthe customer purchased the item using the account that has the receiptcapturing tool activated, a captured receipt alert to the customerinquiring whether to capture a receipt of the purchased item;automatically capturing, in response to receiving a response to thecaptured receipt alert having an indication to capture the receipt ofthe purchased item, the receipt; analyzing the receipt to determinereceipt information; and storing the receipt information in a securedatabase.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein thereceipt includes a hard copy receipt, an electronic receipt, or areceipt email.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining whether to activate a receipt capturing tool ofthe customer's account; receiving, in response to determining toactivate the receipt capturing tool, a preferred communication methodfor receiving captured receipt alerts; and activating the receiptcapturing tool of the customer's account.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the captured receipt alert includes at leastone of a purchased item, a purchase date, a purchase amount, sellerinformation, and an inquiry whether to capture and store the receipt. 5.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the receiptinformation includes at least one of a purchased item, a purchase date,a purchase amount, seller information, a retention period, warrantyinformation, and a category of which the receipt is stored in the securedatabase.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising linking the receipt information in the stored database to awarranty covering the purchased item or to an electronic version of thewarranty covering the purchased item to facilitate remote retrieval ofthe receipt information and the electronic version of the warranty at alater data, such as remote retrieval via a customer mobile device. 7.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising providingan option to purchase a warranty for the purchased item based upon thereceipt information.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the receipt information is remotely searchable via a customermobile device or other computing device by at least one of type ofpurchased item, purchase date, purchase data range, purchase amount,purchase amount range, seller information, store, store chain, merchantchain, merchant, customer notes, and payment type.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the receipt informationincludes at least one of a purchased item, a purchase date, a purchaseamount, seller information, a retention period, warranty information,insurance information, a payment type, and a category of which thereceipt is stored in the secure database.
 10. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising manually capturing, in response toreceiving an indication not to capture the receipt of the purchaseditem, the receipt to determine receipt information, wherein manuallycapturing the receipt comprises: receiving a photograph of a hard copyreceipt via a customer mobile device; obtaining or receiving anelectronic receipt or a screen shot of the electronic receipt; orobtaining or receiving an email detailing the purchasing or a screenshot of the email.
 11. A computer system for capturing a receiptassociated with a purchase of an item, the system comprising: a network;a computing device; and a server communicatively coupled to thecomputing device via the network, the server configured to: determinewhether a customer purchased an item using a customer's account that hasa receipt capturing tool activated; transmit, in response to adetermination that the customer purchased the item using the accountthat has the receipt capturing tool activated, a captured receipt alertto the customer inquiring whether to capture a receipt of the purchaseditem; automatically capture, in response to a receipt of a response tothe captured receipt alert having an indication to capture the receiptof the purchased item, the receipt; analyze the receipt to determinereceipt information; and store the receipt information in a securedatabase.
 12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the receiptincludes a hard copy receipt, an electronic receipt, or a receipt email.13. The computer system of claim 11, the server is further configuredto: determine whether to activate a receipt capturing tool of thecustomer's account; receive, in response to a determination to activatethe receipt capturing tool, a preferred communication method forreceiving captured receipt alerts; and activate the receipt capturingtool of the customer's account.
 14. The computer system of claim 11,wherein the captured receipt alert includes at least one of a purchaseditem, a purchase date, a purchase amount, seller information, and aninquiry whether to capture and store the receipt.
 15. The computersystem of claim 11, wherein the receipt information includes at leastone of a purchased item, a purchase date, a purchase amount, sellerinformation, a retention period, warranty information, and a category ofwhich the receipt is stored in the secure database.
 16. The computersystem of claim 11, wherein the server is further configured to link thereceipt information in the stored database to a warranty covering thepurchased item or to an electronic version of the warranty covering thepurchased item to facilitate remote retrieval of the receipt informationand the electronic version of the warranty at a later data, such asremote retrieval via a customer mobile device.
 17. The computer systemof claim 11, wherein the server is further configured to provide anoption to purchase a warranty for the purchased item based upon thereceipt information.
 18. The computer system of claim 11, wherein thereceipt information is remotely searchable via a customer mobile deviceor other computing device by at least one of type of purchased item,purchase date, purchase data range, purchase amount, purchase amountrange, seller information, store, store chain, merchant chain, merchant,customer notes, and payment type.
 19. The computer system of claim 11,wherein the receipt information includes at least one of a purchaseditem, a purchase date, a purchase amount, seller information, aretention period, warranty information, insurance information, a paymenttype, and a category of which the receipt is stored in the securedatabase.
 20. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the server isfurther configured to manually capture, in response to a receipt of anindication not to capture the receipt of the purchased item, the receiptto determine receipt information, wherein to manually capture thereceipt comprises to: receive a photograph of a hard copy receipt via acustomer mobile device; obtain or receive an electronic receipt or ascreen shot of the electronic receipt; or obtain or receive an emaildetailing the purchasing or a screen shot of the email.